TheSportsCampus

The pre-season managerial merry-go-round which has for once drawn a lot more attention than the players, came to a conclusion today when 34 year old Andre Villa-Boas was officially named the new Tottenham manager, bringing to an end the search for a replacement for Harry Redknapp. Villas-Boas has signed a multi-year deal at the club which will see him earn in excess of £4 million a year, marginally less than what he was making at Chelsea. The Portuguese was favourite for the vacant position even after Laurent Blanc's refusal to extend his contract with the France national team and has reportedly been selected ahead of the likes of Fabio Capello, Roberto Martinez and Didier Deschamps.

Spurs made the announcement via twitter, quite clearly the rage amongst players and fans alike, keeping things short and sweet - "The club is delighted to announce Andre Villas-Boas as head coach."

However, things are hardly going to be easy for the young manager, who would have the responsibility of outdoing what Harry Redknapp achieved for the club - two top four finishes in his last three years at Tottenham. His first job would be to sort out the futures of key players like Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart, whilst also securing deals for Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen. AVB would be under a lot of pressure and would have to do much better than his first stint in London, with Chelsea.

Villas-Boas endured a torrid time at Chelsea where he was sacked just 8 months into his contract. He left the team in a state of disarray after seeing their Premier League hopes dashed and on the brink of Champions League elimination. His age seemed to be a source of problem, with his decisions to leave out veteran players being widely criticised. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich dismissed him, only to see Roberto Di Matteo turn fortunes around and lead the team to a double, further leading to questions on AVB's ability to manage a top club.

However, Spurs' owner Daniel Levy is sure that AVB is right man for the job after the Portuguese convinced him that he knows what went wrong at Chelsea and that it won't happen again. Rather, Levy has signed him seeing his determination to make Tottenham a top club and re-establish his reputation. Ignoring the Chelsea stint, AVB has had quite a successful short managing career, which saw him lead Porto to four trophies in a single season which included the Portuguese League title and Europa League, resulting in comparisons with Jose Mourinho in the process.

Andre Villas-Boas has been handed a second chance just months after seeing his miserable Chelsea tenure end. He would be desperate to turn it around and lead Tottenham to a Champions League place next season. It seems a bit risky, but it may well prove to be a master-class from Daniel Levy to appoint a young and desperate manager in-charge of his club.

File Photograph Copyright: Vladimir Maiorov